Fate
by Fenrira
Summary: When Mara Long arm finds a dragon with a worse off life than her, she immediately becomes aware of a smuggling ring that had been kidnapping and pitting dragons upon them. Its up to her, a small Terror called Whisper and a huge monstrous Nightmare to save the dragons from impeding doom. And, of course, there's a plot twist... of course there's a plot twist!
1. Human in need

**A/N : Mara and terror, Bristle-backs and scavenger lizards belong to me. All other characters and dragon species belong to Dreamworks.**

Mara - or so to speak, Mara Stout-belly Broad-back Long-arm the second- woke up after a long peaceful night of sleep. She had been expecting to be woken up by a rampaging dragon that was tearing the walls of the hut down, preparing to roast the inhabitants, or the frenzied beatings of a terrified sheep. But there was nothing but the usual foot traffic, or, more commonly, claw-traffic.

It had been a week since the dragon-riders had made peace with the dragons. The dragon wars were now distant past, as it was the dawn of the age of equality between human and dragon.

Now, there was nothing to prevent her from opening her door to as wide as possible, and stepping outside. Outside was fresh, with no acrid smell of burning and was the colour of... peach?

She looked up and scowled. If anybody was to stop her from taking in the sights and smells, it had to be the twins. Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston.

"Well, well, well." said Tuffnut, a big, evil grin plastered on his smug face. Ruffnut completed her brothers sentence, "If it isn't Sleeping Beauty, returned from her nap."

Mara scowled even more at this. Sure, she slept for much longer than all of the other inhabitants, but it wasn't like she had a mother to wake her up. She huffed a little and was a bout to go around them when Tuffnut jumped off his zippleback head, and Ruffnut did the same. They were in the solemn silence they always had before a joke. Mara wasn't sure how much of this she could stand, "Don't you have other villagers to tease?" she sighed exasperatedly.

"No." the twins said in unison.

They took each of her arms and literally dragged her to the arena. Honestly, if she didn't hate being teased by the twins, dragon-training was much, much worse. It was more like torture, trying to train a dragon that had probably killed a hundred humans each, and much worse off if they were tiny. Yep, tiny. She was supposed to train a terrible terror.

Really, she hated doing this. When the dragon war was still waging, she had been able to keep dragons at bay, by noting any weakness and making sure she was protected. That was why she had the only house still standing. But against these critters, she was constantly humiliated and worse. Sometimes she was trained by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third. They grew up together, as friends, but she was pushed away by his love for Astrid, who she counted as an enemy. It got worse still... he had a N **ight Fury.** That was the thing that she hated the most. It was a terrifying beast. And the reason why she had no parents. Whenever she saw its black scales, it brought her back to that fateful night...

 _It was a normal day of the dragon war. Mara was in the house with her parents, huddled together on the floor. Her parents weren't fighters, and this was the most they could do. Sometimes, a dry choke would sound, and that would be from her mother. They stayed quiet and hid away. That was what they were only good for._

 _Suddenly a behemoth shout of "Nightfury!" was cried out by ten or so men and Mara's mother hugged her more tightly. But her father left the family huddle, grabbing the spear that they had kept for years. "Wait for me..." was what he said with a light kiss on the forehead to his wife._

 _"Don't forget." was what he said to Mara, before striding up the staircase. Mara knew he was doomed then. They weren't fighters._

 _A loud growl was heard and the sound of her fathers demise. Mara struggled to free herself from her mothers grasp, tears streaming down her face. She could hear flapping and loud steps. she remembered being scared- she knew she was dead then. A night-fury had walked down the steps, blood highlighted on its large head and long claws. Its eyes were slits and a spear was sticking out of it's side. Seeing both of them, it opened its mouth wide, showing teeth riddled with holes and blood. She could see a purple blast getting prepared by the beast. He mother screamed from behind her and pushed her out of the way from the death-blow. Mara then came to her senses, and pretended to be dead. Sniffing her, the Fury was satisfied. It bounded to the door, slamming the rest of the wall down, leaving her in the rubble of her own home, that had protected her her entire life. She could still feel the force of the push from her mother and the gentle touch of her head from her father. That was the only thing that kept her going in the whole wide world..._

"Mara?" the voice was hazy, as if sh were in a daydream. She opened her eyes, to see the monster crouching over her, she was very close to screaming but clamped her lips shut.

Hiccup swam into view, "You blacked out... are you okay?"

Mara shook her head groggily. So this was what it felt like to be drunk- she opened and closed her eyes a few times and sat up, "Urgh, I think I'm okay." she murmured.

Hiccup chuckled awkwardly, "I suppose you'll be fine. C'mon Toothless would give you a ride- you're at Gothi's and half the lessons passed. So we had to pick a Terror for you."

Mara closed her eyes and groaned, "What terror is it? "  
Hiccup winked, "Don't worry. "

So he hoisted her onto the dragon, that she was afraid of and angry at; he apparently couldn't see the anger that had bubbled up inside her. Mara clung on for dear life. She hated many things. but had to admit flying felt good, but unsafe. The only thing that gave her unease was that she was on a Night Fury. Soon, they had landed at the arena yet again. Mara quickly stepped into the arena, adn immediately recognised Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, Fishlegs and Astrid. They each had a Terror perched on their arms.

"Why are you having a lesson?" asked Mara, astonished.

They looked at her distastefully, well the other ones had sympathy on their faces. Mara could see a chest on the ground, where there was a small, quiet sound echoing from within: the only sound a Terror could make while in a cramped small box with a few air holes- but of course Mara didn't acknowledge that. She bent over, and opened the lid. Inside was a terror, with a small diamond shaped patch on its back. The rest of its body was a mixture of orange, black and white.

Mara looked at it distastefully, but her little stone heart was warming towards the little creature in the chest. It snorted and a small whisp of steam rose from its nostrils. Mara picked it up gently, more gently than anything in her life, save her dead cat, called Whisper. To tell the truth, Whisper looked a lot like the Terror she was holding. #

"Now, now, don't get too attached." snorted Snotlout from behind her, his Terror on his arm- literally on his arm, holding on with little fangs.

Hiccup walked to the front of the group, "Now, then, do we know why we're here?" he asked, looking particularly at Mara.

"Barf and Belch have been too sick to fly." said the twins, holding a white speckled terror.

"HookFang clawed me in the arm and flew off somewhere," grumbled Snotlout, glaring at his terror.

"Stormfly ate a yak yesterday." Astrid said, crossing her arms, her terror perched in her shoulder.

Fishlegs was holding his terror delicately, "Meatlug has a dragonnip problem."

Mara uttered, "I don't have a dragon..."

Hiccup continued, "Well we have all got a problem, and so does our dragons. My task for you is to train your terror to come from your arm, fly back and catch a fish. I myself am going to do it. I warn, you this wont be easy."

Mara rolled her eyes, of course it wasn't- the terrors were wild creatures, and wild creatures listen to no one.

Her Terror fell asleep in her arms as she walked back to her still-not-destroyed hut.

Mara looked at her Terror and couldn't help a little grin. It was so peaceful in her arms and she couldn't just put it somewhere. Maybe she'll just leave it at home, get it something to eat. She wondered what it would like. Sighing, she sat in a chair, and put her Terror down, where it awoke and immediately began to chirp excitedly. She said to it, in a hoarse voice, "I'll call you Whisper from now on, ok?"

The dragon blinked, as if it understood.

* * *

Mara was fishing. She had decided, that because she had learnt that her terror had separation anxiety issues, that she could try to teach the Terror how to fish. While she was using her rod, her Terror was exitedly swimming after fish, looking at each one and deciding which was biggest.

When Mara looked up and down the stretch of land next to the river, she could see that someone had the same idea. Astrid was carefully showing her terror the ropes, as if it didn't know what to do.

With a little slosh, the terror flew out of the water, dropping a huge carp onto the bed, where it proceeded to his Whisper in the face. Mara was about to hit it when she felt a tug on her fishing rod. Leaving Whisper, she hoisted the fish out of water, realising that it was no fish.

Water came up in waves as the young Scauldron rose from the waves, sounding cries of sadness and seagulls. Mara wasn't sure what to do, but she decided to cut the line, letting the dragon go free. After a few more hours of fishing with a spare rod and a small terror, she had enough to feed a village. Which what she intended to do.

Mara set up her stall at midday, where people were clamouring around for food. Business was good, with the village looking at her large fish and buying stock. She had enough at the end to buy food and a new rod- a brand new rod, not like the second-hand one she usually used.

The end of the day was the test, where she passed with ease, being one with her dragon and all.

"Sooo, Mara, would you like a riding dragon?" Hiccup asked uncertainly, as she usually got a slap in the face or a stab in the back (Literally and non literally, but with a soft blade).

To Hiccups and Mara's surprise, she answered, "I'll think about it."

And think about it she did.

* * *

Mara woke up the next morning extremely early. She grabbed dragon-nip, a fish, a large harpoon and a coat, as well as Whisper, who was hissing when she put him in her bag. She had made up her mind, but she wanted a dragon unlike the others. A dragon from the wild. The screaming forest nearby was said to be infested with dragons, if you knew where to look...

The forest was as long as Midgard itself. Well, possibly not as long. Her feet were screaming with pain and her sides ached. Whisper had perched on her shoulder, which ached like no-bodies business. She was severely downtrodden and had not seen a dragon for hours.

She was about to give up, and head home, when she heard a blood-curdling sound. It was somewhere in the middle of a banshee scream and a loud, hoarse bellow. Mara peered through a bush and saw two dragons- no, four- no, five... fighting a white blur. Only when the blur stopped moving completely was when she saw that it was- a nightmare.

Not only a nightmare- a titanwing nightmare. It was getting attacked by, here Mara looked closer, some sort of quadruped with long slashing tails. Owing to their behaiviour, they were shocked at the ferociousness of the nightmare, possibly that it was still alive. Mara couldn't see much; she had to get closer.

* * *

 **A/N and so it begins... If you have something to say, don't be afraid to comment! If you are going to criticise me, please don't swear... Thank ye !**


	2. How the rune dagger saved me

**A/N Wow! A review!**

* * *

Mara crouched down low. She could feel the leaves against her skin, and the heavy air that hung in silence. She could see that there was many, many more dragons surrounding the nightmare, and that the nightmare was too weak to fight them back. Carefully, she walked forward, instinctively reaching for a weapon on her back that she remembered she put away.

"By Odin's eye," she grumbled. She continued forward, and saw that the dragons fighting the nightmare were small and thin, like skeletons. Skin hung about in flaps, and they were drooling uncontrollably at the food that was bestowed upon them. Immediately, Mara spotted a larger one, thicker, with more of a belly, and a tail like a whip. It was laying low, probably waiting for a chance to strike, very unlike its comrades, who were just snarling and striking. The black one had a strong aura of respect with a healthy dose of fear, and was currently in mid pounce.

"Hey!" yelled Mara, stopping every action against the nightmare, and averted all the eyes towards her. Growling came from every direction of the crowd, and she knew she was unarmed and defenceless. Well, apart from her rune dagger, which she always kept in case it came to the worst. She took out the obsidian blade, and half the attention went to that, and half were fixed on her. The black dragon strided over to her, an eye on the rune dagger, and another on her wavering stance. It sniffed, and a thin line of drool dropped down from its mouth. It looked towards its comrades, and gave an almost human-like shout of "Tonight we eat!"

Mara was stunned. She could've sworn that the dragon just spoke. But she just managed to grasp hold of her dagger, and strike at a nearby dragon, which whimpered, and headed towards the back of the crowd to recuperate. If they fought like that, she would be dead by mid-morning.

But then, she realised that her dagger was a rune dagger, sometimes used by the Celt druids, and were used to perform sacred rituals and have good fortune. Good fortune sounds good about now. She stepped back, closely avoiding the fangs of another dragon, and read her dagger, "Gods bestow the ancient virtue of swift and strong flight, the luck of a old-lived elder and the leadership and courageousness of a centaur, let me carry my allies into battle, and let them and me be blessed."

Mara sighed as she side-stepped a dragon, it was utterly gibberish, but she wanted to finish it, so finish it she did, "Hail Thor! Hail Odin! Hail Frey!"

There came a sudden rumble of thunder, and the sky turned cloudy, and immensely wet. Mara was astonished when no lightning came. This was supposedly a good omen, so she decided to give Thor an offering when she came back home. IF she came back home. The rain had stopped the dragons in their tracks, making them pause and leave, retreating from the cold. The black one was the last to leave, looking at her with spite, and a small glimmer of respect.

Mara looked at her dagger, and could imagine her father's smiling face on the obsidian. It was a gift from him after all.

* * *

Mara turned her attention to the Nightmare, who had been slowly regarding her through half closed eyelids. Mara could see that, although it had been attacked, it had not sustained much damage, and was simply tired. On closer inspection, the dragon was a he and was young, as he was still on his first row of teeth. But he was on his seventh hide and one tooth had been knocked out many times. On his back was a scar, that was so deep she could see that it was immensely painful, and that the nightmare was tired, as he needed to sleep to recover.

She looked over him again, and focused on the neck, which had a large, metal collar. It obviously hurt and he was wincing as he craned his neck around. Mara was trying to cut it, but the nightmare chuffed loudly and set himself on fire. His fire was purple, which was odd and rare.

The dragon snorted every time she approached, and she did that often. But he straight snarled when she tried to go away. So she looked after him for a few hours, giving him water and feeding him on fish. Whisper even woke up after a while, and waddled about, for the nightmare's amusement. Mara called him Terror, after a tag on his neck.

But Terror was not a tame dragon, even if he had a collar, and wanted Mara to look after him. When she sat on his back, he huffed and glared at her, when she tried to lead him away, he just wouldn't budge. Mara had tried everything, even threaten him with her dagger, but he just rubbed his cheek against it like an average house-cat. When this got overbearing, she finally spoke another verse on her dagger, "Frey, GOD OF HUNTING, let me tame this wild beast, let me sit upon him, and ride across the sky towards my home and house!"

The sky did nothing, and the world continued as normal. Mara looked at the verse again and saw that it had changed. She sighed dejectedly and sat on Terror's side, earning herself a few hisses, "I'm sure that there's a way where I can help everybody." she said. By the way things were going, she was sure she wasn't going home, probably die here of starvation or thirst. Maybe Terror would find reason and let her go...

Suddenly, the trees rustled as a strong gust of wind blew through them. A black dragon was getting closer, and for once, Mara was glad to see the night fury (still mad at its species, of course).

Hiccup slid off it, leg finding its place on the ground and hugging Toothless with one arm to prevent sliding about. When he was on the ground and in no danger of falling, he crossed his arms, looking at Mara and the nightmare she was sitting on. Mara could see that he was looking at the scars and scratches on his body, and was trying to form words that weren't too harsh or easy on her, "Mara, this is **not** okay."  
he said crossly, eyebrows knitted so close they became a uni brow, "People had started to ask where you were, and you weren't at training either."

Mara looked back at him, not with a sombre expression or scared, but a concerned expression, "Hiccup, this nightmare is in pain, and cannot defend himself. I tried to help him, but he can't move, and doesn't want me to move either."

Hiccup looked closer at Terror, cautiously moving a step forward. Terror took this as a sign of hostility and let loose a jet of flame, which Toothless shielded him from, "Mara," said Hiccup, from within his nightfurys wing, "Can you get your dragon under control please?"

* * *

After a few hours of hoisting and flying, they got the dragon under control, managed to put a net under it, and lifted it to Berk. Terror was highly scared with the flight, and, at one point, he froze, occasionally setting himself on fire for an hour, then regained himself. Mara insisted staying with him on the net, uncomfortable with the preposition of sitting on the night fury.

Finally, they reached Berk.

Terror was asleep with Mara underneath his wings. Whisper was above them both, curled like a kitten. Townsfolk saw them, and were too busy to wake them, and besides, the dragon looked dangerous.

When Mara woke, it was because of her stomach. She was very hungry; starving even. She tried to crawl away from Terror, but he felt her and woke up, bolt upright. The nightmare stood up immediately, bristling and billowing flame from every fire sac on his skin. Soon, he realised who she was and calmed down, licking his scars. He wasn't looking at her particularly, but was in her presence. Mara could see he was hungry also. She looked around and saw that a man had mutton on for sale, and she had a few coins in her pouch.

She bought a few pounds of mutton, noticing that she had more than she would normally get. As soon as she was feeding Terror and herself, she realised that she was part of a club she had joined unknowingly: the dragon-riders club.

* * *

 **A/N: so that's all for now, folks! Stay tuned and comment, but remember: no swearing!**


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